I just had to replace one of the wiper blades on my 2011 Impala today and it got me thinking that five years (the car was manufactured in December 2010) is pretty a pretty phenomenal lifespan for a wiper blade. Granted, the car has only just turned 30,000 miles but it'* never been garaged in that time. The passenger side blade started splitting but the driver side blade still works good as new so I couldn't justify replacing it. I figure whatever further life I get out of that driver'* side blade is a bonus.

But it begs the question—Who makes such a high quality wiper blade?

That sure is awesome you got so may years out of the OEM wiper blades, impressive!
I do not know who makes the blades for GM.
If you call the dealer, they may be able to tell you, even offer a stocked replacement blade, at a reasonable price.
Let us know what you find out!

Whatever was cheapest to obtain for that batch of cars.

Yes and that'* what amazes me about how well these blades have lasted.

Hard to tell what they used, they used AC Delco & Denso a bit.
I'd can only guess, and say AC Delco, I do see some VALEO brad listed as "traditional" but I have never heard of that brand..

If it were me I'd go with something like ACDELCO'*, or RainX, I have been using RainX Weatherbeater wipers on my 96' PA for a while, and they seem to last.

ACDELCO 8122 for Left
&
ACDELCO 8121 for Right

Or if you go Weatherbeater'* get a 20" PASSENGER and a 22" DRIVER

AC Delco and Denso don't make wiper blades. They source them to multiple suppliers and ship them under their brands. The company I work for supplies parts (not wiper blades) that we ship in AC Delco branded packaging. Valeo is one of the major suppliers of washer bottle pumps. I have been in one of their plants, and to my knowledge they do not make wiper blades.

I buy whatever is on sale on Rock Auto.

I replaced the passenger side blade with a 21" Michelin Stealth that was on sale at Walmart. The design of the blade is surprisingly similar to the OEM one except for the chunkier universal mount. The OEM blade is a bit sleeker looking because the mount only has to accommodate the J hook arm. I couldn't believe how many adapters were in the package.

I was surprised to find out the blades were different lengths. It wasn't obvious from looking at them, unlike my parents' 2013 Lacrosse, which has a passenger side blade a good two or three inches shorter than the driver side. If the driver and passenger side blades had been the same length on the Impala, I would have put the new blade on the driver side and moved the still quite good driver side blade over to the less critical passenger side. I'll be interested to see how this Michelin blades does. I've never used that brand before. If it does okay, I'll get one for the driver side when it needs it and once again have a matched pair. Normally, I replace both blades at once but the driver side blade was still performing perfectly so I couldn't justify it.

I have Trico blades on my Aurora. They're a little over three years old and still clear the windshield nicely but have become excessively noisy. For many years, I always used Anco wiper blades and had excellent results for the price, but I haven't seen that brand around in a while.

I can believe that, a lot of companies outsource so much anymore, a brand name is not what it used to be.

I am guessing RainX may not make their own either, but regardless if they do or not, the wipers are quality wipers, IMO of course.
Thanks for the info.

Never used Michelin wipers, but they cannot be too bad, ANCO'* are decent, I have not used them in a long time though.
The best thing you can do for any wiper is keep the windshield as clean as possible at all times, and once and a while use a damp paper towel to wipe the rubber off.
Never use them when you have freezing conditions, unless you know they are not stuck to the windshield before using them.

Quite true. If you look at the fine print on the packaging, there is often a disclaimer that the brand name is used under license. And it'* not just auto parts. Polaroid is a sterling example. The guy who bought the company out of bankruptcy a few years ago only wanted the name. He promptly shut down all of Polaroid'* operations, sold off all material assets, and now licenses the name and trade dress to anyone who can pay the freight.